** The Biden administration on Wednesday celebrated the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark climate law President Biden signed in 2022.
** Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Wednesday said he will keep up his battle against the Biden administration and officials who seek to “undermine” the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as part of their “radical climate agenda” on the first anniversary of it being signed into law.
** Dan Brouillette, who led the Energy Department under former President Trump, will lead a lobbying group for electric utilities, the group said Wednesday.
** New research from the University of Pittsburgh suggests fracking may increase the risk of rare cancers and asthma.
** Maui’s first reported wildfire last week may have been caused by damaged power lines, according to newly released research conducted by a power monitoring company.
** Hawaiian Electric is facing at least three lawsuits that allege the utility bears some responsibility for the devastating wildfires on Maui, which have led to at least 105 deaths so far. The lawsuits generally claim the utility, which said it does not comment on pending litigation, failed to shut off power to power lines despite high-wind warnings and wildfire risks, though the cause of the fires remains unknown.
** Occidental Petroleum will buy Carbon Engineering, a company that it has worked with since 2019, in a $1.1 billion deal as the oil and gas producer aims to build about 100 plants that use direct air capture.
World
** Woodside Energy said “positive progress” was being made on wage disputes at Australia’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility even as a union alliance said key differences remained ahead of further talks next Wednesday.
** The UK risks being left behind in the production of “green” electricity, despite having once being considered a leader in the energy transition, according to a new study. “Of the world’s largest eight economies, the UK is forecast to have the slowest growth in low-carbon electricity generation between now and 2030,” said Oxford Economics.
** A key aide to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday that there was no contradiction in defending an ecological transition and new oil exploration fronts, in remarks later echoed by the head of oil giant Petrobras.
** Vietnamese exporters have renegotiated higher prices for around half a million metric tons of rice, two trade sources said, as global prices climbed to 15-year highs following India’s ban on overseas sales last month.
** Norway’s DNO ASA has partially resumed production at the Tawke oil field it operates in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq even as the main export pipeline remains shut.
